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Friday, January 17, 2014

Open Source Framework for the Internet of Everything

Are you ready for the next-generation of the global Internet? Are you prepared, as the world's governments and major industries all move forward to launch the coming wave of new innovations that will connect the previously unconnected?

The Linux Foundation has announced the formation of the AllSeen Alliance. The group is described as a broad cross-industry consortium to advance the adoption and innovation within the Internet of Everything (IoE).

The forward-looking IoE concept is based on the idea that devices, objects and systems can be connected in simple, transparent ways to enable the sharing of information via coordinated and intelligent operations.

Since it's believed that no single company can achieve the level of interoperability required to support the IoE bold goals, a united cross-industry effort is needed to deliver new experiences to both consumers and businesses everywhere.

The AllSeen Alliance looks to expand upon the notion of an Internet of Things (IoT), which Gartner predicts will add $1.9 trillion to the global economy by 2020, to include more functionality and interactions across sectors -- such as the smart connected home, healthcare, education, automotive and enterprise.

"Open source software and collaborative development have been proven to accelerate technology innovation in markets where major transformation is underway," said Jim Zemlin, executive director at The Linux Foundation. "Nowhere is this more evident today than in the consumer, industrial and embedded industries where connected devices, systems and services are generating a new level of intelligence in the way we and our systems interact."

The AllSeen Alliance is believed to be an unprecedented opportunity to advance the Internet of Everything goals, for both home and industrial applications. The members will contribute software and engineering resources as part of their collaboration on an open software framework that enables hardware manufacturers, service providers and software developers to create interoperable devices and services.

The initial framework is based on the AllJoyn open source project, which was originally developed by and is being contributed to the Alliance by the Qualcomm Innovation Center, and will be expanded with contributions from member companies and the open source community.

Products, applications and services created with the AllJoyn open source project can communicate over various transport layers -- such as Wi-Fi, power line or Ethernet -- regardless of manufacturer or operating system and without the need for Internet access. The software runs on popular platforms such as Linux and the Linux-based Android, iOS, and Windows, including embedded variants.